• The Florida Judiciary is primarily state funded.  Judges, trial court administrators and court reporters are funded by the state.  For their court related functions, clerks are funded by the state.  The state and the counties divide up other costs.
• Florida’s appropriation was reduced from $462.3 million in FY11 to $458.1 million in FY12.  The Florida courts are able to maintain the same number of judges and staff but will be reducing operating expenses.  To reduce spending, they have frozen the salaries of judges and staff and delayed filling vacancies in the clerks’ offices and in judicial support positions.
• The Florida courts are implementing e-filing and an electronic document management system.

Reports and Articles

• "State Court System Faces $108M Budget Shortfall."  WINK News. September 29, 2011.
• David Royse.  "Scott: I'll Make Court Funding a Priority."  WCTV.tv. August 8, 2011.
• Greg Allen.  "Florida Court System Faces Funding Crisis."  NPR Morning Edition. April 5, 2011.
• Tami Luhby.  "Florida Courts Face $72.3 Million Deficit From Foreclosure Freeze."  CNNMoney. March 23, 2011.
• Gray Rohrer.  "Chief Justice Charles Canady Argues Against Cuts to Courts."  Sunshine State News. January 26, 2011.
• Lucy Morgan.  "Taj Mahal Timeline: How a $50 Million Courthouse Got In the Budget But Stayed Off the Radar."  St. Petersburg Times. December 19, 2010.
• Wesley Brown.  "Cuts in State Budget a Major Concern for Clerk of Court Candidates."  ENCToday.com. October 26, 2010.
• Jesse H. Diner.  "Averting the “Tipping Point of Dysfunction”."  The Florida Bar Journal. February 2010.
• Will Hobson.Clerk of Courts Could Face More Budget Cuts."News Herald. January 26, 2010.

Gavel to Gavel

• Database. Search the Gavel to Gavel legislation database based on state, year, legislation category, or any combination.

State Links

• Court Budget Web Sites
• Strategic Planning